Synopses & Reviews
A beautiful literary anthology published to commemorate the International Polar Yearand remind us what were in danger of losing.
The Arctic and Antarctic ice shelves have been an object of obsession for as long as weve known they existed. Countless explorers, including such legends as Richard Byrd, Ernest Shackleton, and Robert Falcon Scott, have risked their lives to chart their frozen landscapes. Now, for the first time in human history, we are in legitimate danger of seeing polar ice dramatically shrink, break apart, or even disappear. The Ends of the Earth, a collection of the very best writing on the Arctic and Antarctic, will simultaneously commemorate four centuries of exploring and scientific study, and make the call for preservation.
Stocked with first-person narratives, cultural histories, nature and science writing, and fiction, this book is a compendium of the greats of their fields: including legendary polar explorers and such writers as Jon Krakauer, Jack London, Diane Ackerman, Barry Lopez, and Ursula K. LeGuin. Edited by two contemporary authorities on exploring and the environment, The Ends of the Earth is a memorable collection of terrific writingand a lasting contribution to the debate over global warming and the future of the polar regions themselves.
About International Polar Year -
International Polar Year (which begins in spring 2007) is a major international science initiative that aims to focus public attention on the polar regions and our effect on them. The last such initiative, the International Geophysical Year in 195758, involved 80,000 scientists from 67 countries. This one promises to be bigger still. Elizabeth Kolbert is the author of Field Notes from a Catastrophe, and has been a staff writer for the New Yorker since 1999. Prior to that, she was a reporter for the New York Times. She lives with her husband and three sons in Williamstown, MA. Francis Spufford writes for the Guardian and lives in Cambridge, England, with his wife and daughter. He received a Somerset Maugham Award for his book on ice exploration, I May Be Some Time. The Arctic and Antarctic ice shelves have been an object of obsession for as long as weve known they existed. Countless explorers, including such legends as Richard Byrd, Ernest Shackleton, and Robert Falcon Scott, have risked their lives to chart their frozen landscapes. Today, we are in legitimate danger of seeing polar ice dramatically shrink, break apart, or even disappear. The Ends of the Earth, a collection of the very best writing on the Arctic and Antarctic, commemorates four centuries of exploring and scientific study and calls for preservation. Socked with first-person narratives, cultural histories, nature and science writing, and fiction, this book is a compendium of the greats of their fields, including including legendary polar explorers and such writers as Jon Krakauer, Jack London, Diane Ackerman, Barry Lopez, and Ursula K. LeGuin. The Ends of the Earth is edited by two contemporary authorities on exploring and the environment and published to commemorate 2007 as International Polar Year. International Polar Year (which began in spring 2007) is a major international science initiative that aims to focus public attention on the polar regions and our effect on them. The last such initiative, the International Geophysical Year in 195758, involved 80,000 scientists from 67 countries.
Table of ContentsJohn Franklin, The Extreme Misery of the Whole PartyElisha Kent Kane, The Return of LightChauncey Loomis, Murder in the Arctic?Andrea Barrett, See the EsquimauxJules Verne, Mount HatterasFridtjof Nansen, The Winter NightSalomon August Andrée, Andrée's Second DiaryRobert Peary, We Reach the PoleHinrich Rink, Kasiagsak, The Great LiarKnud Rasmussen, Songs of the InuitRockwell Kent, The Garden of EdenGontran De Poncins, KabloonaTéte-Michel Kpomassie, A Greenland ChristmasJack London, In a Far CountryValerian Albanov, Land Ho!Halldor Laxness, Icelandic PioneerBarry Lopez, The Land, BreathingGretel Ehrlich, Aliberti's RideMarla Cone, Unexpected PoisonsElizabeth Kolbert, Shishmaref, Alaska
Synopsis
A beautiful literary anthology published to commemorate the International Polar Year--and remind us what we're in danger of losing.
The Arctic and Antarctic ice shelves have been an object of obsession for as long as we've known they existed. Countless explorers, including such legends as Richard Byrd, Ernest Shackleton, and Robert Falcon Scott, have risked their lives to chart their frozen landscapes. Now, for the first time in human history, we are in legitimate danger of seeing polar ice dramatically shrink, break apart, or even disappear. The Ends of the Earth, a collection of the very best writing on the Arctic and Antarctic, will simultaneously commemorate four centuries of exploring and scientific study, and make the call for preservation.
Stocked with first-person narratives, cultural histories, nature and science writing, and fiction, this book is a compendium of the greats of their fields: including legendary polar explorers and such writers as Jon Krakauer, Jack London, Diane Ackerman, Barry Lopez, and Ursula K. LeGuin. Edited by two contemporary authorities on exploring and the environment, The Ends of the Earth is a memorable collection of terrific writing--and a lasting contribution to the debate over global warming and the future of the polar regions themselves.
About International Polar Year -
International Polar Year (which begins in spring 2007) is a major international science initiative that aims to focus public attention on the polar regions and our effect on them. The last such initiative, the International Geophysical Year in 1957-58, involved 80,000 scientists from 67 countries. This one promises to be bigger still.
About the Author
Elizabeth Kolbert is the author of Field Notes from a Catastrophe, and has been a staff writer for the New Yorker since 1999. Prior to that, she was a reporter for the New York Times. She lives with her husband and three sons in Williamstown, MA. Francis Spufford writes for the Guardian and lives in Cambridge, England, with his wife and daughter. He received a Somerset Maugham Award for his book on ice exploration, I May Be Some Time.